Read on Twitter
Despite a series of disappointments with many of our institutions, there are 2 in Quebec that came through this week — our workplace safety research institution (IRSST) and workplace safety commission (CNESST) . First the IRSST published this on Monday: https://www.irsst.qc.ca/covid-19/avis-irsst/id/2790/protection-respiratoire-pour-les-travailleurs-de-la-sante-dans-le-cadre-dune-transmission-par-inhalation-du-sras-cov-2
“The IRSST mentioned that healthcare workers are 10 times more at risk of contracting the disease than the general population. According to the IRSST, "This high prevalence reveals shortcomings in the means currently in place to control health care workers' exposure.””
“The organization pointed out that the procedure mask, which is not an N95 mask, "is not a respiratory protection device and does not protect the worker from inhalable particles.””
Then today, the CNESST did a 180 and made N95s mandatory for healthcare workers working with covid patients (hot zones), effective *tomorrow* https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/n95-face-masks-mandatory-for-quebec-health-workers-in-covid-19-hot-zones
As if that wasn’t enough good news, Qc media also dropped this article today about #bettermasks featuring @ShellyMBoulder 
https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/02/09/il-est-temps-de-porter-de-meilleurs-masques-plaident-les-experts#cxrecs_s
https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/02/09/il-est-temps-de-porter-de-meilleurs-masques-plaident-les-experts#cxrecs_s
Conclusion for me is that even though the institutions we expect to be at the forefront of the airborne transmission / respiratory protection issue has been reluctant to update their recommendations and messaging, the message is still breaking through.
And almost as though to ensure we don’t rest on our laurels, this study dropped today to remind us that all healthcare workers need respiratory protection. Once again, HCWs in surgical masks and eye protection interacting with a ‘covid negative’ patient were contamined. https://twitter.com/abraarkaran/status/1359253780097818625
Another group that published a similar experience. This has been happening for months. We’re only now seeing it in print. https://academic.oup.com/ofid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ofid/ofab036/6121257
That’s because screening on admission is good but misses many patients that are incubating the virus and will become positive in the following days. Even re-testing on day 4 won’t catch all infections. And covid’s best trick is that it’s most infectious before symptoms appear.
So many gems in this thread:
“All healthcare workers who want better protection deserve access to it” https://twitter.com/abraarkaran/status/1359264827491909635
“All healthcare workers who want better protection deserve access to it” https://twitter.com/abraarkaran/status/1359264827491909635
#Bettermasks are low hanging fruit https://twitter.com/abraarkaran/status/1359266391229161476
Another lesson is the detailed ventilation assessment they did. This is how to approach the problem when you actually want to do everything you can to prevent another large outbreak in your institution. How many of our hospitals have had multiple large outbreaks? Too many. https://twitter.com/sarah__af/status/1359313506936516610
Linking this thread for a comprehensive overview of #bettermasks 
https://twitter.com/huffmanlabdu/status/1357816930569129985
https://twitter.com/huffmanlabdu/status/1357816930569129985
And this shorter TLDR version https://twitter.com/lisa_iannattone/status/1357513295448702984
https://twitter.com/lisa_iannattone/status/1357513295448702984
Remember, better masks and open windows are low hanging fruit.
So think about fit, filtration, and ventilation to keep yourself safe until your vaccination.
So think about fit, filtration, and ventilation to keep yourself safe until your vaccination.
My bad, I tagged the wrong air science rockstar. It was @linseymarr that was interviewed for this!
https://twitter.com/lisa_iannattone/status/1359353016944582656?s=21 https://twitter.com/lisa_iannattone/status/1359353016944582656
https://twitter.com/lisa_iannattone/status/1359353016944582656?s=21 https://twitter.com/lisa_iannattone/status/1359353016944582656
